Founded in 2014, Yacht Harbour has now gone through nearly 3 years of rapid growth, packed with milestones and interesting events. In this list are 11 things about Yacht Harbour that are not widely known, but we thought were interesting enough to share.
#1 Yacht Harbour started as an Instagram channel
Even though Yacht Harbour's initial plan was to build a web platform for a marketplace of yachts for sale, the company started an Instagram account in August 2014 to get some sort of traction, ahead of the launch of its website in December of that year.
At a time when no yachting media companies were on the platform, the strategy proved successful and saw Yacht Harbour get to 10,000 followers in under 4 months. This, in turn, proved instrumental to getting the first users to Yacht Harbour.
#2 We power instant results for a Top 5 search engine
Another little known fact about Yacht Harbour is that the company's index powers an instant result snippet for search engine, DuckDuckGo. One of the 5 available search settings on an iPhone, DuckDuckGo is a search engine built with privacy in mind.
Any user searching for a particular yacht on the platform, will see on top of search results an image of the yacht with it's main specifications, which DuckDuckGo displays using an API built by Yacht Harbour on top of its database for the search engine.
#3 News coverage was first meant as a content marketing play
Even though our audience is now spread evenly across its superyacht marketplace and its news section, Yacht Harbour's editorial coverage was started only in October 2015 to act as a content marketing vehicle for its search platform.
Despite these plans, news coverage rapidly evolved and grew to serve the purposes of a true media company, which Yacht Harbour has since become. Stories broken by our news department are now often used as sources by international media such as the BBC, CNBC and others.
#4 We built a chat bot to answer any yachting question
Developed in a wave of growing excitement over chat bots, Brook became the first chat bot in yachting that used a combination of machine learning, natural language recognition and big data to answer any question related to yacht.
Although Brook was since retired due to a lack of users, Yacht Harbour did manage to build a working version, answering over 80% of asked questions. Its original interface can still be seen here. When live it was even accessible from the Telegram messaging platform.
#5 Our content can be found on Forbes and Business Insider
As part of its content distribution strategy, Yacht Harbour struck deals with Business Insider to distribute part of its English-language content and to contribute stories to the French and Russian versions of Forbes.
With news stories around yachting and articles trying to open up the field to a more general audience, this content was read over 2 million times so far in 2017.
#6 We ran a crowdfunding campaign in our first year
Far from today's peak of attention around ICOs, Yacht Harbour ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2015 as an experiment, ahead of the launch of its charter marketplace to offer heavily discounted deals and lifetime advantages for participants.
Through the campaign, Yacht Harbour raised just under $3,000 from a series of contributors. The value of some the items offered then by Yacht Harbour has grown over 1,000x today.
#7 We get 10 million impressions of our content every month
Having rapidly grown from the 23 visitors Yacht Harbour on the day of it's launch, the company's combined channels now reach over 10 million impressions every month. This figure includes Yacht Harbour's website traffic, social media reach and audience on third-party platforms.
#8 There are sometimes easter eggs on Yacht Harbour
Sometimes overtaken by the holiday spirit, Yacht Harbour's homepage can sometimes change to adopt a special skin for limited times as seen above. So far, the company has dressed up its website for Halloween, Christmas and New Year's Eve but other events may soon be coming.
#9 One million minutes are spent watching Yacht Harbour's videos monthly
Playing an increasingly important role for any media company, videos have been a key to Yacht Harbour's success as well with over 800 days worth of videos being watched on our platform every month. The latest Black Pearl video alone reached over 3 million impressions on our network.
#10 Our Facebook page outranks its nearest competition 10 to 1
Owing much of its success to social media, Yacht Harbour has always tried to dominate the space in the superyacht sector and Facebook is currently the most reflective of this paradigm. Whereas Yacht Harbour gets 36,500 engagements on its page every week, the nearest competition currently sits at 3,300 engagements per week.
#11 It took us over 20,000 hours to build the Timeline platform
A major step forward in yacht search, Yacht Harbour's Timeline platform was launched in May 2017 after over 20,000 hours of research. The platform, compared to a Bloomberg terminal for yachting, lets its subscribers track the market in real time, discover the story behind any yacht and find the best deals on the market with big data.
Photos by Julien Hubert
Dutch Damen Yachting launched the first private luxurious 77m ice breaker La Dacha in Vlissingen today. She is owned by extravagant Russian banking billionaire and adventurer, Oleg Tinkov, whose net worth is estimated at $2.4 billion by Forbes.Due to enhanced fuel tanks and top of the state garbage management systems, La Dacha can stay on sea for 40 days without returning to a port, making her the ultimate expedition and adventure yacht. Furthermore, guests and the owner will never get bored due to the extensive collection of toys and tenders, snowmobiles, two helicopters, and a personal submarine.The vessel features an ice-classed hull and is polar code compliant, designed to cruise the world’s wildest natural regions with no sacrifice to the levels of luxury onboard. Offering adventure without limits, La Dacha Expedition Yacht 77 also features 2 hot water Jacuzzis — 1 indoor and 1 outdoor, a sauna & steam bath, massage room, and a fully equipped gym.The yacht offers accommodation for 12 guests in 6 staterooms, including 2 master cabins and 2 VIP suites. Each suite comes with a bathroom (a toilet and a shower or a tub) and a walk-in wardrobe. Guests can safely enjoy the most spectacular Arctic and Antarctic landscapes with 25 crew members on board to assist guests in any way they can.As a part of Tinkov’s recreational luxury project La Dacha, consisting of several holiday hikes in remote high-end destinations, the explorer is being built. She will be available for weekly charter but for the moment the owner is planning to spend up to 20 weeks a year on the yacht himself.Oleg Tinkov said just before the launch:The Earth is so big and our life is so short, so we have to explore as much as we can. And the SeaXplorer project is just perfect. I fell in love with the shape, the design. Don’t forget that this is the one yacht with two helicopters, so you can really go further into the mainland. You can see the bears. You can see the animals. You can heli-ski. Any kind of activities, fishing and so on. With two helicopters you have absolute freedom to explore any remote territory as deep as you wantRose Damen, Amels and Damen Managing Director was also at the launch:The owner has a lot of energy and ideas that went into the design of La Datcha. This yacht is the largest and most capable SeaXplorer so far, custom-built to the owner’s requirements. There is no other yacht like it in the world. We’re very proud to be building her and can’t wait to see La Datcha exploring the world
July 3, 2020
Let's take a look at Dutch shipyard Oceanco´s magnificent vessel Sea Walk, initially launched in 2005 under the name Lady Christina, the 62m motor yacht, went through a refit in 2014 at MB92 in Barcelona. This picture shows her in the Croatian port of Rijeka. The work included an extension of the main deck aft, as well as adding a new Jacuzzi to the sundeck forward area. Oceanco was leading the design of Sea Walk´s exterior and Zuretti Interior Design worked on the furnishings inside.With a beam of 10.5 m and a draft of 4.6 m, she has a steel hull and aluminium superstructure. This adds up to a gross tonnage of 1166 tons. Oceanco is powered by engines of 1673 hp each giving her a maximum speed of 15 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots.She features a large main salon with several relaxing areas featuring drop-down cinema screen and projector as well as a plasma TV with surround sound for a full cinema experience. Oceanco yacht can accommodate 10 guests in 5 beautifully appointed cabins, including one generous master cabin, two double guest cabins, as well as two twin guest cabins and full comprehensive entertainment centres fed from a central server. The staterooms are generous in size and have silk panelled walls with attractive marble bathrooms. The fabrics, marbles and joinery details differ slightly for each cabin.
July 3, 2020
Solaris
Yachts, the Italian sailing brand, delivered the Solaris 80 RS yacht Alithia,
the first of its kind. The yacht measuring 24m in length is built to offer a
comfortable journey on the water, featuring open-plan areas and a functional
living area, as well as ease of use built into all the systems onboard. The
representative of the owner was Jens Cornelsen of Cornelsen & Partner, he also
managed the project throughout the building phase.
Stepping on
board of the guest cockpit on deck, the salon can be entered through a central
companionway, with eye-level windows creating a bright atmosphere around the
dining table and the lounge area. For the Solaris 80 RS, there are 2
different interior layouts available, both featuring four-cabins, distinguished
by a master cabin either in the bow area or in the aft section below the
steering position.
There is
lots of room for creativity, since customization can be applied to the outdoor
deck spaces, such as the fold-down beach club space. If improved maneuverability
is desired, clients can get the 80 RS with a lifting keel, reducing the 4-m
draft to 3.5m.
The next
project to be launched by Solaris Yachts will be the flagship Solaris 111,
that is expected to take place mid-August.
July 3, 2020
Italian builder Overmarine Group has announced the sale of 43-metre project Venezia to an American client. She is fifth unit in the Mangusta Oceano 43 and the second Mangusta Oceano displacement yacht to be sold to Florida.The shipyard submitted the new-build project to the owner through Worth Avenue Yachts with a delivery date of November 2020.The tri-deck Mangusta Oceano 43 was designed by Alberto Mancini and features such design elements as large windows, skylights for daylight, wide glazed surfaces, and special lighting solutions. Noticeable features of the model include a forward-facing infinity pool with a waterfall, a beach club aft with the stern door folding down to become a swim platform, sunbathing area, a garage at the bow, and several alfresco living areas.The engines of the yacht provide a top speed of 16 knots and a cruising speed of 11 knots and a range of 4,500 nautical miles. Overmarine Group’s Interiors Department is already in contact with the new owner to customize the layout and the furniture, and decor to match the owner’s preferences.Stefano Arlunno, Overmarine Group’s Americas Area Manager explained:This sale once more confirms that our vessels – be they Maxi Open, fast displacement, or displacement yachts – perfectly meet the needs of our American clientele. Behind a successful sale always stands the harmonious combination of the right product, an owner who has fallen in love with it, and passionate teamwork. In this specific case, our gratitude goes to Worth Avenue Yachts
July 2, 2020
The two Golden Yachts flagship superyachts O’Pari and O’Ptasia have been seen in the Zea Marina in Piraeus, Greece this week.The recently-launched 95-metre O’Pari is the largest yacht ever undertaken by the Greek builder. This flagship motor yacht has been launched by superyacht builder Golden Yachts at the facility of Golden Yachts Halkitis in Athens, Greece earlier this year.She yan offer accommodation for a total of 12 guests across nine double cabins, including four twins and one single. O’Pari also has a crew of 28. The power of the yacht comes from a pair of CAT 3516C-HD 2525kw engines for a maximum speed of 18 knots. The 85-metre O’Ptasia was built by Golden Yachts in 2018. With a beam of 13.8 m and a draft of 3.6 m, she has a steel hull. This adds up to a gross tonnage of 2350 tons. The vessel is powered by CAT engines giving her a maximum speed of 18 knots and a cruising speed of 16 knots. O’Ptasia's maximum range is estimated at 2350 nautical miles. The motor yacht can accommodate 12 guests in 11 cabins. Both yachts were designed by Studio Vafiadis from Italy.
July 2, 2020